Labyrinth
by Anthony J
Summary: SCRIPT FORMAT: Hobbes, Pinocchio and Florence stumble upon one of the Realm's most insidious secrets: a mutating training simulation known as the Labyrinth. It is a maze that cannot be won, and it exists for one purpose: to break the men that enter it.
1. Teaser

HARSH REALM

**HARSH REALM**

"Labyrinth (v2x17)"

by Anthony J Fuchs

TEASER

TIGHT SHOT on a closed human eye. It flutters open.

CLOSE SHOT of its owner. We find a man, CHRIS, dressed in Republican Guard uniform, lying on a red-brick floor.

INT. RED-BRICK ROOM

Chris occupies a small room, ten feet square, built entire-ly of red-brick. There is an open doorway on each wall.

Slow and strained, Chris struggles to his feet, shaking his head. He looks around the room, confusion setting in.

CHRIS

What the...

He slowly starts out of the room, hesitant.

INT. HALLWAY

Chris pokes his head out of the room to examine the hall. He looks right, then left; the hallway stretches for what looks like miles to his left. He turns back to the right, venturing out of the room and heading down the hallway.

He heads down a few yards of hallway before reaching a junction with three options; left, straight or right.

CHRIS' POV: to the left, the hallway makes a right about ten yards in. Up ahead, the hallway makes a left not far from his current position. To the right, the hallway also makes a right, perhaps 20 yards down.

Chris tentatively heads down the hall to his left. Quickly covering the ten yards to the corner, he looks down the new

corridor to the right. He is surprised to find a solid hall with no entrance where there should be an intersection on the right wall. Confused, he heads back to the four-way.

Down the hallway he was just in, that ended in a left turn, he no longer finds a left, but rather a right turn. With ever-growing confusion, he starts down the corridor to his right. At about 20 yards, the corridor makes a right turn. Chris makes the turn to find another immediate left. He stops, looking at the new turn. He looks back, at the turn he just made, and the straight hallway behind it. With a look of apprehension, he starts around the new corner.

Immediately around the corner is another, this one a right. He turns, finding another immediate right. He presses on, turning corner after corner, finding more corners to turn.

CHRIS

(to no one)

Is there an end to this, or should

I just keep double-backing on myself

forever!?

He turns the next corner, finding a slight hallway that ends in another left. He reaches the left turn that immediately makes another left. He heads around the next corner, stopping at what he sees. We follow him around both corners to find what caused his desist; A DEAD END.

CHRIS

(frustration)

No...

He steps forward toward the wall, extends a palm to test the surface. His fingers brush the brick surface; it's real. He retracts his arm, backing away from the wall and turning the corner that brought him to it. What he finds makes his stop in his tracks again.

CHRIS' POV: a perfectly straight hallway, 100 feet long.

Chris cocks his head, confused. He sidesteps to look at the dead end he just encountered, and is equally stunned by what he finds there. Another long hallway like the first.

Chris's eyes go wide as he looks back around the corner into what should be an identical hallway, and is shocked to find the DEAD END that should be where the other hall is.

CHRIS

What the hell...is this place?

Chris starts down the hallway, slow at first, watching his steps. In a few yards and a couple of moments to get his bearings, he picks up his pace, starting a mild trot.

CHRIS' POV as he heads down the hallway. Up ahead on the right wall, the bricks DIGITIZE and a new doorway opens.

Chris skitters to a stop, stunned by the appearance of this formerly nonexistent doorway. He turns to backtrack, and runs SMACK into a brick wall that previously had not been there. He steps back, looking at the wall suspiciously. Slowly, cautiously, he extends his hand toward the wall.

Chris' hand pushes against the wall. It's real and solid.

CHRIS

(looking around)

Come on...get a grip, Chris...

He turns back around and heads for the new opening.

From around the corner, Chris turns into the new hallway.

CHRIS

...just part of a game...

Slow at first, quicker as panic sets in, Chris soon finds himself breaking into a full-out sprint down the corridor. He's running so fast that he doesn't even notice it when the space around him SNAPS, the effects of a GLITCH. He dashes down the hallway until he reaches a T-junction.

To the left is a dead-end, while the right takes him a few yards down to a left. Identical to the other end of the hallway, as if he's been turned back on himself. He snaps his head around to look back down the hall. The other end leads to a T-junction just like the one he's at now.

He slowly heads back down the hall, until he reaches the middle where the space around him snaps again. He stops at the feeling, recognizing it. He steps back, causing the same effect again. He reaches his arm out, watching as the rippling effect is triggered by his fingertips.

CHRIS

Damn glitches...

With those words, he turns away from the glitch, bolting down the hall to the T-junction where he darts around the right corner and sprints to the end of the new hallway, dashing around the left corner at the end of it.

In this new hallway, Chris' pace doesn't ease up as he sprints headlong down the corridor. Ahead, he sees the hallway being closed off by a wall that slowly appears.

BACK TO CHRIS, who picks up his speed.

CHRIS

Not this time...

Chris lays on all his strength and barrels down the hall the last few feet into the materializing wall. Only half-constructed and still translucent, the unfinished wall is no match for Chris' growing momentum. He forces his weight headlong, crashing through the wall in a burst of sparks.

TIGHT on Chris' face as he lays on the ground, not moving. After a moment, he coughs once, hard.

He pushes himself up, strained from the impact. He looks behind him to find the finished wall, unscathed by the encounter. He smiles, proud of himself for beating it.

He struggles to his feet, heading to the T-junction where he turns left, heading down another few yards of hallway before reaching a right turn leading not into another hallway, but to a doorway with white light streaming in.

Chris stops, relieved. His right arm is bent at the elbow and held up in a wounded position, but a smile still creeps across his face at the sight of the doorway. He slowly heads for the door, content not to rush his victory.

EXT. WHITE LIGHT

All that appears in the midst of the white light is the doorway, through which we can see the red-brick hallway. After a moment, Chris appears, tired, stepping through the doorway into the light. He blinks several times, trying to adjust to the light before taking a few steps out into it.

Slowly growing more accustomed to the brightness, Chris opens his eyes, basking in the glow of the light. A wide smile takes his face as he begins laughing.

CHRIS

I did it!! I beat the unbeatable maze!!

Suddenly, as though prompted by his words, the white space around him begins to PIXELLATE, a background emerging. The soldier's face is taken by an expectation.

As the background materializes, though, the expression on his face fades away, replaced by horrified disbelief.

CHRIS' POV: a large circular cobblestone portico, perhaps

30-feet in diameter, with walls about ten feet tall and topped with a large white dome. The room contains four doors, one of which the soldier is standing in front of.

BLUR PANS to see closer shots of the doors and where they lead. Through one is a green hedge; through the next is a mirror, reflecting Chris; through the third, a wood panel.

BACK TO CHRIS, in a spinning shot from knee level, as he starts breathing heavily, his face a twisted contortion of fear, anger and hysteria. Slowly, his expression cracks, and a hail of laughter breaks through. Not the happy laughter from before, but a crazed, maniacal laughter; the anguished sound of a mind slipping loose. The type of laughter that comes when insanity is half-a-breath away.

Chris collapses to the ground as we FADE TO BLACK.

INTRO CREDITS

COMMERCIAL I


	2. Act I

HARSH REALM

ACT ONE

EXT. FOREST ROAD (NIGHT)

A camouflaged vehicle sits idly on the shoulder of a dense dirt road; a plastic hose is inserted into the gas tank.

The man holding the hose places the free end in his mouth, drawing the air out of the tube to siphon the gas from the tank. A gas can stands upright in the dirt by the man's feet; after a moment, the man brings the free end of the hose to the gas can; a few spews of gasoline spill into the dirt as it finds the opening and fills the can.

The man stoops beside the Republican Guard Humvee, obvious from the Crossed Swords emblem painted on the doors. In the palest of moonlight, three dark figures surrounding the vehicle; MIKE PINOCCHIO next to the gas tank in his leather jacket, FLORENCE by the back with her Colt Commando rifle, and TOM HOBBES in the flatbed in cargo pants and a t-shirt.

OUTSIDE CHARLOTTE

NORTH CAROLINA

HARSH REALM

Hobbes roots through the crates stacked in the flatbed,

prying the lids off with the blade of a broad hunting knife. Florence is waiting off the tailgate of the truck, rifle tight in her grip as she keeps an anxious watch.

Hobbes rips the lid off of a crate, finding half a dozen military-issue rifles packed in straw. With a broad smile, he overturns the crate, sending its contents crashing.

PINOCCHIO (oc)

(whispered shout)

Hey!! Wanna keep it down!?

HOBBES

(whispering)

Sorry...

Hobbes quickly sets to the weapons, grabbing three of them and dusting away the straw before placing them back inside the crate. He removes the clips from the remaining rifles, dropping them into the crate before passing it to Florence.

Hobbes continues through the next few crates, passing the magazines off to Florence, who consolidates them into the crate on the ground by her feet. In another crate he finds handguns – standard issue Beretta 92FS pistols – which he handles in the same manner; three guns, the rest in clips.

Pinocchio continues siphoning gas from the vehicle into the gas can, which is quickly filling. After a moment, the liquid spills over the cap and Pinocchio quickly moves the hose from the first can to a second one nearby, losing only a few ounces of the fuel to the dirt.

Back in the flatbed, Hobbes has finished with the crates of weapons and moves on to a stack of boxes marked with large blue X's. Wedging the blade of the knife under the lid of the crate, he forces it off to find rows of canned food; corn, peas, baked beans and other assorted delicacies.

The grin on his face doubles as he tears the packing straw out of the box to make room for the food contained in the two crates under this one. He quickly sets to condensing the three crates down to a single box before hauling the crate to the back of the truck to pass to Florence.

Handing the crate over to her, she eyes the contents, her stare snapping back to his face with disbelief.

HOBBES

(grinning)

Starvation'll just have to wait.

Giving her the crate, Hobbes heads back into the truck to find a final stack of crates, these marked with large red X's. He tears the lid off the first one to find lines of bottled water, earning another mile-wide grin from him.

At the back of the truck, Pinocchio approaches Florence as Hobbes emerges from the flatbed with another crate in tow.

PINOCCHIO

Anything useful?

HOBBES

Just enough food, water and weapons

for about a month.

Pinocchio passes the gas cans to Florence, picking up one of the handguns from the crate on the ground.

PINOCCHIO

Good.

(drops the clip)

Just one more loose end to trim.

Pinocchio slides the clip back into the grip and snaps it into place. He pulls the slide back sharply, chambering a round before taking long strides across the roadway to the edge of the dirt where we find, for the first time, a Republican Guardsman, unconscious, slumped with his back propped up against a tree to which he is then tied.

Pinocchio takes one last step to come before the Guardsman, looking down at the uniformed man with unmasked contempt, and perhaps a glimmer of jealousy. After a tense moment, Pinocchio lifts the gun to level it at the man's forehead, gently rocking the hammer back into position. Before he can pull the trigger, though, he hears Hobbes' voice.

HOBBES

Mike...

Pinocchio turns his head to face his comrade.

HOBBES

Don't...

PINOCCHIO

What??

HOBBES

You don't have to kill him. He's not

a threat.

PINOCCHIO

They're all a threat. One less Guard

is one less person trying to kill us.

Pinocchio turns back to the Guardsman, gazing down the barrel of the gun at his helpless victim.

TIGHT on Pinocchio's hand, his finger tight on the trigger.

He begins to squeeze.

PINOCCHIO'S POV: the face of the unconscious soldier. He's just a kid, no older than 22. Like a Guardsman Pinocchio once knew who had joined Santiago's ranks to escape his own scarred past. Just a kid, looking to become a hero.

Pinocchio hesitates.

TIGHT on his hand, the pressure on the trigger not letting up, not increasing. After a moment, a wool-gloved hand slowly pushes Pinocchio's arm down, pointing the gun away.

Pinocchio turns silently to find not Hobbes, but Florence nudging the gun out of alignment. She gently shakes her head, not so much telling him not to do it, as much to tell him that she knows he doesn't want to, and doesn't have to.

HOBBES

Santiago will deal with him when he

finds him. Why waste the ammunition?

Pinocchio turns to Hobbes, then looks back at the Guard.

EXT. FOREST

Through the darkness, a stream of moonlight casts barely enough light to make out the three forms trudging heavily through the rough terrain, each lugging their own crate.

HOBBES

Did we really have to hide it this

far off the road?

PINOCCHIO

You'd rather he found it and called

for back-up? One guard I can take.

Maybe four or five if the adrenaline

gets going. But not even the three

of us could handle an entire unit.

Florence casts Pinocchio a glance with a ferocious grin that implies she might not have such a bad time trying.

PINOCCHIO

...shoulda rezzed him...damn liability...

HOBBES

He didn't see our faces; doesn't know

who we are. He can't identify us.

PINOCCHIO

Stupid, Hobbes. It was a risk, and

a big one. Too big too take when

we're stealing Republican property.

HOBBES

He wasn't the one we were sent after.

(beat)

It was the right thing to do.

Florence flinches, glances to Pinocchio.

PINOCCHIO

What is your obsession with that

arcane notion? There IS no such

thing as RIGHT or WRONG here; how

many times do you need to see a

full-grown man digitized before

you understand that?

HOBBES

How can you fight a battle if you

don't believe there's a RIGHT or a

WRONG. How do you know which side

You're fighting for?

PINOCCHIO

I don't CARE which side I'm fight-

ing for, long as I can take care

of myself.

HOBBES

Then why don't you go back to work

for Santiago?

Pinocchio stops dead in his tracks, half a word from cold-cocking Hobbes. He takes a moment of concentration to get his anger under control before lifting his eyes to give Hobbes a cold, hard stare to accompany his answer.

PINOCCHIO

Because he wanted me to do things I

didn't want to do.

HOBBES

Because they weren't right?

PINOCCHIO

(through gritted teeth)

Because I didn't want to do them.

Pinocchio turns to follow Florence, trying to kill the conversation. Hobbes follows after him, continuing.

HOBBES

Okay, let's pretend you're right; no

RIGHT, no WRONG. Just an arbitrary

free-for-all, take what you can get,

everyone for themselves. Total anarchy.

Pinocchio stops again, annoyed, turning to face Hobbes.

PINOCCHIO

Tell me something, Plato. Where do

you get your notions of good and evil;

what's RIGHT and what's WRONG?

HOBBES

You're serious?

PINOCCHIO

Enlighten me.

Pinocchio starts hiking again, and Hobbes follows. Hobbes opens his mouth to speak, closes it again, thinks a long moment. At first, he doesn't seem to know how to answer.

HOBBES

Fundamentally...I guess I'd have to

say family and religion. I was raised

in a Presbyterian household, taught

to love my fellow man, do unto others

as I would have them do unto me. That

what's right by God is right by Man,

and we have no place to question that.

PINOCCHIO

Well that don't work here. In Harsh

Realm, the men with the most guns are

the ones who make the rules. There

is no God here, no Heaven, not even

a Valor Star or a "job-well-done."

Might makes right here, and might is

something you don't have here.

HOBBES

You do?

Pinocchio pauses, a look of pained loss flashing across his face before his hard exterior takes over once more.

PINOCCHIO

Not anymore.

Pinocchio heads back to Florence, who is no longer walking. Now she stands, her rifle ready, feeling the air around her as if she senses something in it. A moment later, Pinocchio arrives next to her, looking at her, and then to the air.

PINOCCHIO

What is it?

Florence looks at him, then slowly extends her hand. About a meter in front of her body, the air shimmers as her hand

DISAPPEARS into it. Hobbes approaches the pair from the back, looking at Florence's now missing hand.

HOBBES

Glitch?

Florence retracts her hand with a troubled look.

PINOCCHIO

Whatever's on the other side ain't

good.

HOBBES

That wasn't here last time we came

through.

(looks to Pinocchio)

Where'd it come from?

Pinocchio, looking at Florence, reaches for the glitch, pushing his own hand through.

PINOCCHIO

More important; where's it go?

TIME CUT:

EXT. FOREST (MIDNIGHT)

The group has set up a make-shift camp around a small fire. The crate marked with the large blue X is sitting open, the lid on the ground next to it, with several cans missing.

Two empty cans of corn lie in the grass near the fire.

Hobbes sits on the ground near the empty cans, his legs pulled in tight to his body. His chin perches on his knees, an insightful look etched through his features. Undoubtedly writing another mental letter to his betrothed.

Across the fire, Florence has her weapon disassembled and is examining one of the many parts.

Pinocchio is seated on a toppled tree, a steaming can of baked beans on the log next to him as he concentrates on a small device in his hands. After a moment, Hobbes drops next to him, his eyes also fixed on the small object.

HOBBES

What is it?

PINOCCHIO

Like a digiwand, but more advanced.

Hobbes looks from the device to Pinocchio's face, confused.

PINOCCHIO

While I was in the Guard, Santiago's

R&D Department created what they so

creatively deemed a "digiwand." It

was designed to repair game-inflicted

code corruption.

HOBBES

It heals wounds?

PINOCCHIO

Among a few other quaint tricks.

Pinocchio pauses, turns the device over in the firelight.

PINOCCHIO

Who knows what THIS thing is capable

of doing.

Hobbes, gazing blankly into the campfire, is stricken with a thoughtful look. After a moment, though, his demeanor breaks and a laugh leaks through. Pinocchio looks away from the device with his patented "knock-it-off" tone.

PINOCCHIO

What?

HOBBES

Anytime we've made a fire, it felt

like something wasn't quite right.

I never understood exactly what it

was until just now.

(looks to Pinocchio)

There's no smoke.

With a look that implies Hobbes' just might be losing his mind, Pinocchio turns back to the fire. He notices, as the flame flick skyward, that there is in fact no smoke. With a slight shrug, he turns back to his baked beans.

PINOCCHIO

When you breath an entire realm of

reality into existence, I guess you

cut corners. No salt in the ocean,

no smoke from the fire.

(matter-of-factly)

I'll bet you didn't notice you don't

have a pulse.

Hobbes snaps a look back to Pinocchio, half expecting it to be a joke. Pinocchio only looks at him, gesturing for him to check. Hobbes presses his fingertips to his wrist.

After a few moments, an unsettled look takes his face as his fingers move up to his jugular, just below where his jaw meets his neck. His face is taken with a troubled look as he finds no pulse. He looks up to Pinocchio, who has just filled his mouth with food, for an explanation. The Corporal looks back for a second, shrugging his shoulders as he chews and speaks around the food.

PINOCCHIO

I didn't write the program. I just

find the bugs.

Hobbes turns back to the fire, uneasy.

TIME CUT:

EXT. FOREST (NEARING DAWN)

The group lies sleeping, each clinging to their crates.

After a few moments, Dexter, who is curled up in the nook of Florence's bent knees, stirs. He stretches, yawning before his attention is captured by something unseen.

The Glitch as it twitches, a digital hum stinging the air.

Dexter stares unflinchingly at the Glitch. Waiting.

Hobbes, a few feet away, stirs quietly, almost waking up.

Dexter perches on Florence's crate, ears perked and eyes glued to the Glitch. He quietly begins baring his teeth, a low rumbling working its way out of his throat.

Hobbes slowly wakes to the sound of his dog growling. He looks off to see what has caused the animal's guardian instincts to kick in, finds the Glitch shimmering in the pale moonlight. He looks back to Dexter just in time to see the dog lunge toward the Glitch, growling deeply.

HOBBES

DEXTER!

Hobbes flashes to his feet to catch Dexter before he passes through the Glitch to God-knows-where. His bellowings were more than sufficient to wake his companions, who scatter to find the source of Hobbes' distress. By the time they find it, Dexter JUMPS, popping through the Glitch.

In pursuit, Hobbes can't quite stop himself in time.

PINOCCHIO

Hobbes!

Only half the word reaches the sprinting soldier though, as he too DISAPPEARS through the Glitch as well. Pinocchio and Florence are up quickly, approaching the Glitch cautiously.

PINOCCHIO

Damnit, Hobbes. I swear, when I find

you, that dog is dinner.

Pinocchio looks to Florence with a defeated sigh, turning back to the glitch and extending his hand toward it.

TIGHT on Pinocchio's hand; it disappears into the Glitch.

INT. BRICK HALLWAY

Hobbes is crouched on the floor, holding Dexter with his right hand while scratching his ears with his left. He is also looking at his surroundings with utter bewilderment.

In a moment, a hand pops through the air. The hand is followed by an arm which is followed by the rest of its owner, Pinocchio. He is followed by Florence, who shoots Hobbes a maternal glare before examining her new environs.

Pinocchio's confusion is different from the others'. His jaw hangs in horror as he treads slowly down the hallway.

HOBBES

Where are we?

PINOCCHIO'S POV: the hallway is marked with sporadic doors.

FADE TO BLACK

COMMERCIAL I


	3. Act II

HARSH REALM

ACT TWO

RESUME:

INT. RED-BRICK HALLWAY

Back to the group as they stand in the red-brick hall.

PINOCCHIO

This can't be happening, this cannot

be FRIGGIN happening!!

HOBBES

What?? Where are we??

PINOCCHIO

I cannot be back in this HELLHOLE!!

HOBBES

Mike; calm down!

Pinocchio shoots Hobbes a look. Hobbes has never had the nerve to yell at him before, and it comes as quite a shock.

HOBBES

We're not getting anywhere if you

lose your head.

PINOCCHIO

(laughing)

We're not getting anywhere no matter

what I lose.

HOBBES

Why not? What is this place?

Pinocchio doesn't answer immediately, looking around the hallway as if he expects it to suddenly change. Finally, he turns to Hobbes, despair written on his face.

PINOCCHIO

Welcome to Hell.

Hobbes looks at Pinocchio, knowing he doesn't make a habit of overreacting, but thinking he has to be this time.

HOBBES

We're still alive; we can't be THAT

bad off...

PINOCCHIO

No?

(faces Hobbes)

You got any idea where you are?

(Hobbes shakes his head)

This is no universal Hell. No lick-

ing flames, no little bastards with

fiery pitchforks nipping at your ass.

This is a personalized Hell; every

victim gets his own dose of torture.

I'd take the eternal barbeque over

this in a heartbeat.

(turns away, looking around)

This is True Hell.

HOBBES

You haven't told me what THIS is.

PINOCCHIO

(eyes Hobbes)

It's Santiago's last training sim;

the Labyrinth. All new recruits have

to go through it.

(more to himself)

The Unbeatable Maze.

HOBBES

Unbeatable?

PINOCCHIO

No way out.

(beat, slight laugh)

It became the Republican Guard motto.

What we used to tell the new recruits

on their way to boot camp. Strike a

little fear in the hearts of the faint.

After long enough, I started to wonder

If we were talking about the maze, or

the Realm.

HOBBES

So what's the objective?

PINOCCHIO

There is no objective.

HOBBES

You said it was a training sim...

PINOCCHIO

Psychological training. A test of

mental strength. The Labyrinth was

designed to gauge a soldier's emotional

response to a no-win situation.

HOBBES

No-win?

PINOCCHIO

You know, you got a real bad habit

of repeating everything I say.

HOBBES

Seems like the only way to get any

answers out of you.

(beat)

If it's unbeatable, how do you get

out?

PINOCCHIO

You lose.

HOBBES

How's that?

PINOCCHIO

The only way out is to lose.

HOBBES

And how do you lose?

PINOCCHIO

Not how. What.

HOBBES

Okay, then WHAT do you lose?

Pinocchio turns back to Hobbes with a grave look of impending defeat.

PINOCCHIO

Your mind.

TIME CUT:

INT. RED-BRICK HALLWAY

The trio traverses a corridor; Pinocchio leads the parade, with Hobbes following, and Florence bringing up the rear.

PINOCCHIO

For most players, it's a matter of

hours. Some can go on for about a

day; the strongest can go longer,

but not by much. It always feels

like an eternity; minutes stretch

like elastic, and eventually, you

give up trying to count the seconds.

HOBBES

So how do you get out?

PINOCCHIO

You break down. Your mind starts

to give. You don't know what's what

anymore. Nothing makes sense, every-

thing's a blur. Your brainwaves

change from Alpha to Delta patterns

and that's when they pull you out.

AFTER you've lost the ability to tell

the difference between what's real

and what's not.

(beat, smirk)

The worst is; it's not even what's

real and what's not. It's what's

NOT real, and what's LESS real.

HOBBES

Why would Santiago put his soldiers

through that? Why would he create

that kind of a program?

PINOCCHIO

He didn't.

Pinocchio looks back to see the confusion in Hobbes' face.

PINOCCHIO

The U.S. military created it, as part

of the original Harsh Realm project.

It was part of the program code, meant

to test the player's emotional acuity

better than any psych-eval ever could.

To see how a soldier would stand up to

a real-world scenario. A practical

application of theory.

HOBBES

The Pentagon created this?

PINOCCHIO

(looks at Hobbes)

You know, you're not quite as simple

as they say.

(looks away)

It was a throw-away. Too many people,

too many minds, and most importantly,

too many dollars were lost over this

to prove it's value, so it got scrapped.

HOBBES

And Santiago salvaged it...

PINOCCHIO

He had the program restored to one of

the empty gamespace pods when he set

up his army. Said that the strongest

mind was one that had already seen its

worst day. If you survived a mental

breakdown, came back from it whole

again, then you were as emotionally

and mentally fit as possible.

HOBBES

Every soldier has to go through this?

PINOCCHIO

Every ENLISTEE. Sixty percent never

made it past basic, and twenty percent

of those who did lost it here.

Pinocchio pauses a moment, then continues:

PINOCCHIO

Santiago's rationale, what he told us

to placate our consciences, was that

a man can lose everything he owns and

still know the fear of losing more.

Take his sanity, and he hits bottom.

Fear is no longer an option, because

there is nothing that he has that has

not already been lost.

HOBBES

What about his life? The fear of death

is still --

PINOCCHIO

Insanity is worse.

HOBBES

How can that possibly -- ?

PINOCCHIO

I wouldn't expect you to understand.

HOBBES

(slighted)

Why not?

Pinocchio clearly doesn't want to get into this.

PINOCCHIO

Hobbes...

HOBBES

You think because you've been stuck

here longer than me, you somehow

earned that chip on your shoulder.

(beat)

Whatever it is; LET IT GO. You're

useless to us if all you can do is

dwell in your own past.

PINOCCHIO

See if you can't climb down from that

pedestal you've spent so much time and

energy putting yourself up on, Hobbes.

You're just another GI here, another

fly in Santiago's ointment.

HOBBES

At least I'm willing to do something.

PINOCCHIO

Yeah; you think you're here to save

Harsh Realm. Congratulations; so do

half the sorry, hopeless bastards we

run into everyday. The only thing

that makes you any different than the

rest of us is your blind idealism.

HOBBES

And what's wrong with that?

PINOCCHIO

Nothing. If you're ready to die

because of it. Half your brain is

stuck in that dreamlife you call the

Real World, and you can't keep your

head straight here because of it.

Hobbes goes silent at the explanation. Pinocchio's right.

The trio continues on, turning a few more corners before Hobbes stops in the middle of the hallway.

HOBBES

If there's no way out of here, why

are we walking?

PINOCCHIO

Because it's something to do.

HOBBES

So is sitting, and it doesn't require

nearly as much energy.

Hobbes drops to the floor, content to sit and wait for an answer. After a moment, Pinocchio returns to him.

PINOCCHIO

Hobbes, get up.

HOBBES

Why?

PINOCCHIO

Because, sitting around isn't gonna

get us anywhere.

HOBBES

Neither is walking around. You said

it yourself. No way out.

PINOCCHIO

This from the insuppressible optimist.

(sarcastically)

I thought you were the sap who found

the good in everything.

HOBBES

I find what good can be found. But

if this game is what you say it is –

if this really is a no-win situation

– then there is no good to be found.

No hope. No escape.

PINOCCHIO

Knock it off, Hobbes. You're start-

ing to sound like me, and it doesn't

fit you.

(Hobbes snorts)

Besides, there may BE a way out.

Hobbes looks to Pinocchio; he gestures for Hobbes to stand.

HOBBES

How?

(Pinocchio doesn't answer)

A glitch? Programming error?

PINOCCHIO

Almost.

HOBBES

What is it then?

PINOCCHIO

Does your fiancé find this demanding

neediness endearing?

Hobbes glares at Pinocchio, but Florence smirks.

PINOCCHIO

It's a jump port.

HOBBES

You just said there WAS no jump port.

PINOCCHIO

Because there's not supposed to be.

(turns, grinning)

I added one.

HOBBES

(laughing)

You cheated?

PINOCCHIO

Damn right I did. I heard one of

the enlistees talking about a rumor

he heard. His brother was a Sergeant

in the Guard, and told him something

about an Unbeatable Maze.

(beat)

So I paid a friend from the Outside

to hack the program and add an exit.

The group turn another corner and see, up ahead, light pouring into the hallway through a doorway on the right.

HOBBES

What's out there?

Pinocchio doesn't answer as he heads for the door.

EXT. WHITE LIGHT

With Pinocchio in the lead, the trio exits the doorway into the vast whiteness we recognize from the teaser. They wander a few steps into the light, almost expectantly.

Hobbes looks around the blank brightness surrounding him, his initial thoughts betraying Pinocchio's information.

HOBBES

We're out?

PINOCCHIO

No.

HOBBES

Then what is THIS?

PINOCCHIO

We're in the core. A gigabyte of

Inactive game space at the center

of the maze. It connects the four

primary playing areas.

Slowly, almost unnoticeably at first, the whiteness begins to fade, a background digitally materializing within it.

HOBBES

What's happening?

PINOCCHIO

Rez up. The core only activates

when someone's inside it.

Soon, our heroes find themselves in a large circular cobblestone portico with wooden walls about ten feet tall and topped with a large white dome. The room contains four doors, each leading into a different section of the maze.

PINOCCHIO

(to himself)

The only part of the game that

doesn't change...

Hobbes wanders away from the group, heading for the door leading into the wood-paneled section. As he approaches the door, though, he catches a glimpse of a set of scratches carved into the wooden frame near the ground.

Hobbes leans down to examine the scratches, sees that they are not the random markings he initially thought. He scrutinizes the carving, which reads "NO WAY OUT - MPW."

HOBBES

Waters...

On Hobbes' words, Florence and Pinocchio join him, leaning in to see what he's found. Florence looks quickly at the words, then to Hobbes for an explanation.

Hobbes watches the engraving for a moment before speaking.

HOBBES

(without looking)

MPW. Melvin Patrick Waters. He was

here; he got out.

Hobbes finally looks to Florence, who only shrugs her to imply she has no clue what to make of their new discovery.

PINOCCHIO

He lost his mind, and the one he got

back wasn't the same.

TIGHT on the engraving: "NO WAY OUT – MPW" as Hobbes looks at it, waiting for it to yield some unseen answer.

FADE TO BLACK

COMMERCIAL III


	4. Act III

HARSH REALM

ACT THREE

RESUME:

INT. THE CORE

Hobbes is still hunched over Waters' carving; he runs his fingertips over the etching, feeling the letters.

HOBBES

No way out.

PINOCCHIO

This is getting us nowhere fast.

(stands)

We gotta move.

HOBBES

Move where?

PINOCCHIO

I guess you got a decision to make.

(points to Red-brick)

The one we just came from...

(points to Hedgemaze)

The one from The Shining...

(points to Mirrored)

The one from the funhouse...

(points to Wood-panel)

Or the one that looks like the living

room at my Aunt Margaret's house.

Florence stands and Hobbes finally follows, looking around the portico. He glances down to the carving one last time, then heads for the wood-paneled doorway. Before he can step through the entrance, though, Pinocchio grabs his arm.

PINOCCHIO

Whoa; slow down, Chief. Don't go

getting ahead of yourself.

Florence passes them, followed by Pinocchio, putting Hobbes at the rear of the platoon. They head into the corridor.

INT. WOOD-PANEL HALLWAY

The trio heads into the wood-paneled section of the Maze. After a few yards, they turn a corner, and the doorway to the Core disappears. A few turns later, Hobbes speaks.

HOBBES

What the hell was that about?

Florence glances back to Pinocchio, who looks to Hobbes.

PINOCCHIO

What was what about?

HOBBES

Pushing me to the back, like I'm a

damn kid who doesn't know what he's

doing. I ran ground-recon in Salâh-

ad-Dîn before the air campaign.

PINOCCHIO

And I hit four homeruns in JV base-

ball back at Lincoln High School.

Hobbes blinks at Pinocchio, caught by the non-sequitur.

PINOCCHIO

This is a different playing field.

If you are what you think you are,

then it wouldn't do much good for

you to walk into a trap or step on

a landmine, now would it?

HOBBES

And if I'm NOT what you seem to

think I think I am?

Pinocchio glares at Hobbes, who presses the issue.

HOBBES

You talk about how much bull these

"prophecies" are, but you seem to

throw yourself in front of me a

little too often.

PINOCCHIO

What are you trying to accuse me of?

Believing? Wondering? CARING?

HOBBES

I just can't imagine that hanging

around me is the best way to serve

your own self-interest.

PINOCCHIO

Hobbes; I really could give less than

half-a-living-sh--

Florence stops, blocking Pinocchio with an arm that cuts him off cold. He looks at her, then ahead down the hall. At first, he doesn't see why they've stopped, but then the air in the corridor CRACKLES as a GLITCH twitches.

HOBBES

Is it a way out?

PINOCCHIO

How do you always manage to be such

an irrepressible optimist? "No way

out" means "no way out," not "maybe

a way out will magically appear in

the middle of the friggin hallway."

Pinocchio and Hobbes stand by as Florence takes a slow step toward the anomaly, hand extended. In another second, her hand disappears behind the digital haze of the glitch. She pulls her arm back, shaking her head; this is nothing good.

HOBBES

What is it?

PINOCCHIO

(looks to glitch)

It's a Scrambler, kid; another part

of the Maze. Nasty little bastards.

HOBBES

Where's it go?

PINOCCHIO

Well there's the rub. I walk through

it, I get spit out somewhere in the

Maze. YOU walk through it, you end up

somewhere ELSE in the Maze.

HOBBES

Why the hell would -- ?

PINOCCHIO

C'mon Hobbes; I know you were Infantry,

but use your head. We're in a training

program designed to push players beyond

their psychological limits. So what's

the advantage to making sure that those

players are alone?

HOBBES

(beat)

Are you're seriously quizzing me?

PINOCCHIO

Absolutely. You're gonna earn this one.

HOBBES

You gotta be kidding...

PINOCCHIO

(smirks)

Take your time.

HOBBES

This is ridiculous; alright.

(thinks)

It's a single-player sim; the players

aren't SUPPOSED to be in groups.

(Pinocchio nods)

So...the program must be...designed to

read each player, and adapt the game.

Pinocchio nods again.

HOBBES

Scramblers break up groups so that...

the program can target each player's

weakness, hit them individually.

PINOCCHIO

(almost proud)

THERE you go. I knew you could put

it together.

Pinocchio looks back to the hallway they've been following.

PINOCCHIO

Either we go back, or we go through.

HOBBES

What's the difference?

PINOCCHIO

Right now? Jack-squat.

HOBBES

We can all go through?

Pinocchio grabs the arm of Florence's shirt with one hand and the arm of Hobbes' shirt with the other, then nods.

PINOCCHIO

Sure.

Florence nods; the three of them slip through the glitch.

TIME CUT:

INT. HEDGEMAZE HALLWAY

The trio trudges between a pair of shrubbery hedges that form walls on either side. The tops of the plants overgrow the hallway to form a ceiling; the path is lined with dirt.

Pinocchio leads with Florence following and Hobbes behind.

HOBBES

What did Santiago do when he found

out you cheated in his program?

PINOCCHIO

What makes you think he found out?

HOBBES

He didn't find out?

PINOCCHIO

Of course he did; it's his program.

He was so impressed, he put my friend

at the head of his R&D department, and

assigned me to the head of his army.

Pinocchio follows his words with a look that implies it wasn't the greatest thing that's ever happened to him.

PINOCCHIO

At the time, I thought it was the

greatest thing that could have hap-

pened to me. Get me close to the

top, give me a chance to figure out

his plans, then take him out.

HOBBES

What went wrong?

PINOCCHIO

He turned my allegiances around.

Took me up to the roof of Government

House one morning as dawn broke over

the City. Now I'm no poet, and I'm

definitely not an artist, but that

scene woulda made a painter famous.

FLASHBACK:

EXT. SANTIAGO CITY, GOVERNMENT HOUSE (DAWN)

A fiery sunrise spills over the City. Reds, purples and oranges sparkles off the steel and glass of the Empire.

OMAR SANTIAGO stands on the roof with MIKE PINOCCHIO, both dressed in fresh Republican Guard uniforms. Pinocchio is Young, sharp, important. Santiago watches the sunrise.

SANTIAGO

I come here every so often to remind

myself that there is a force at work

in the universe that cares nothing

for the petty will of Men.

Santiago pauses, takes a deep breath.

SANTIAGO

Call it my absolution.

Pinocchio glances to Santiago, but doesn't answer.

PINOCCHIO

I'm don't know art, sir; but I know

what I like.

That earns a laugh from Santiago, and he sighs.

SANTIAGO

Despite the rumors you may have heard

about the infamous Mr. Santiago, there

are many things that I do not know.

(beat)

But; information being the currency of

this modern age, there are many more

things that I DO know.

(beat)

I know, for instance, that you are a

fierce loyalist who does not treat his

devotions lightly. I know that you

came here at the behest of men whose

goal is to destroy what I have created.

Pinocchio looks to Santiago; there is no fear in his eyes.

PINOCCHIO

Yes sir.

Santiago meets Pinocchio's eyes, smiles at his honesty.

SANTIAGO

I know that you saw an opportunity

to infiltrate my Guard as an agent

of the United States military. To

perhaps learn my motivations and

goals in order to fulfill your own

objective.

(beat; frank)

To kill me.

Pinocchio's eyes do not waver; he holds Santiago's gaze.

PINOCCHIO

True enough, sir.

Santiago looks out of the sunrise, which is mellowing.

SANTIAGO

I respect you, Michael. First for

the loyalty you would not so flip-

pantly abandon, even when it might

endanger your life; and second, for

the respect that you have shown me

through your honesty.

PINOCCHIO

Thank you, sir.

SANTIAGO

And I will show you respect in equal

measure by reciprocating with honesty.

Santiago looks to Pinocchio again, his eyes.

SANTIAGO

The men who sent you here call me a

renegade and a traitor, because my

objectives no longer correspond with

their own. But our disagreement in

purpose stems from a difference in

understanding.

Santiago looks to the bustling metropolis and smiles.

SANTIAGO

As Lucifer understood that Mankind

deserved more than God was willing

to give and was cast into perdition

for it, I too understand that the

inhabitants of this world deserve

better than the perdition into which

their world has been perverted. A

Tartarus that was created by us...

(looks to Pinocchio)

You and I; the people you represent.

The people I used to represent.

Santiago pauses, looks out over the sunrise

SANTIAGO

But no longer. This is not a game,

Michael, and those people that you

call "virtual characters"; they are

no less real than you or I. This

world is theirs. We are the foreign

trespassers; we are the invaders.

Pinocchio looks out over the City as the sunrise finally melts to the brilliant goal that marks the new day. He looks to Santiago, who is so enrapt in the sight of his own creation that he doesn't notice Pinocchio watching him.

SANTIAGO

You have a decision to make, Michael.

At that, Santiago unholsters his sidearm. He drops the clip to check the ammo, slides it back into place, chambers the first round and pulls back the hammer. Pinocchio watches with a visible degree of trepidation, but looks genuinely confused when Santiago offers him the loaded weapon.

SANTIAGO

Follow your orders and kill me; or

do the right thing, and join me.

Pinocchio looks at the gun, then meets Santiago's eyes.

BACK TO SCENE:

INT. HEDGEMAZE HALLWAY

Pinocchio heads carefully down the corridor with Hobbes following; Florence covers the rear a few paces back.

PINOCCHIO

That sonuvabitch could talk the Devil

into lightning himself on fire.

HOBBES

(understanding)

"A perfect society and a beautiful

way of life, free of strife."

PINOCCHIO

(sad smirk)

He makes it sound pretty good, huh?

HOBBES

So what changed?

PINOCCHIO

What always changes? Power corrupts,

and absolute power corrupts absolute-

ly. I don't know when he crossed that

fine line, but at some point his goal

changed from repairing this world to

destroying ours. He started talking

about a Final Solution, and I knew --

Pinocchio turns a corner and goes abruptly silent.

HOBBES

You knew what?

Pinocchio still doesn't answer; Hobbes turns the corner to find the hallway entirely empty. Pinocchio is gone.

HOBBES

Pinocchio?

CUT TO BLACK

COMMERCIAL IV


	5. Act IV

HARSH REALM

ACT FOUR

RESUME SCENE:

INT. HEDGEMAZE CORRIDOR

Hobbes and Florence standing by themselves at the corner.

HOBBES

(nearly frantic)

Where the hell did he go??

Florence, who is looking around the corridor almost as frantically as Hobbes, turns back to her companion. Her composure almost, but not quite, covers the fear in her eyes as she shakes her head "no" and shrugs.

Hobbes turns back down the corridor in the direction that Pinocchio was headed, reaching out as he takes tentative steps forward. After a few feet, his hand disappears behind a digital haze, slipping into a glitch.

HOBBES

...No...

He pulls his hand back, heading back to Florence.

HOBBES

...no, no, no...

(takes Florence by her arms)

...he couldn't just disappear like

that...just slip through a glitch

without us knowing...

(panicked look)

...could he??

Florence stares into Hobbes' eyes and Hobbes soon realizes that Florence really doesn't know. Trying not to panic outright, Hobbes prompts Florence toward the glitch.

HOBBES

Is it safe?

Florence digs her heels against the tile floor, snapping a look back over her shoulder at Hobbes. On eye-contact, Hobbes realizes that he's being too forceful and eases off.

Florence turns back to the glitch, slipping her arm through and reading the sensations. After a moment, she pulls back and turns to Hobbes, gives a shrug that says "it's fine."

HOBBES

Then we have to follow him...

Hobbes is about to push past Florence to get to the glitch, when she cuts him off, adamantly shaking her head "no."

HOBBES

Why not?

Florence gives Hobbes a hard look before pointing to the glitch, indicating Pinocchio. She then traces her right hand upward and to the right; with her left hand, she taps Hobbes' chest, then traces her hand upward and left.

Hobbes sighs dejectedly, nodding.

HOBBES

Break up groups, hit each player

individually. We won't end up in

the same place.

Hobbes turns away from Florence for a moment, thinking.

Finally, Florence reaches out for Hobbes, placing a hand on his shoulder to turn him. Hobbes looks up to meet her eyes.

HOBBES

We have to follow him.

Florence gives Hobbes another hard look of disapproval.

HOBBES

(defiant)

You can dick around here if you want

to, but the Army taught me never to

leave a man behind, and my mother

taught me never to let a friend down.

I refuse to do either after all he's

done for me; I won't lose him, and

especially not here.

(looks to the glitch)

We have to TRY.

Hobbes looks back to Florence, who sees the determination in his face. She looks to the glitch for a moment, dropping her gaze to the floor before returning it to Hobbes.

She purses her lips, about to do something she doesn't really want to. She nods gently in the affirmative, knowing that abandoning Pinocchio is simply not an option.

Florence turns back to the glitch, taking Hobbes by the arm and taking the few steps between them and the scrambler. The pair steps through the glitch, disappearing.

INT. MIRRORED HALLWAY

The hall remains empty for a moment, built of mirror panels four feet wide to construct a corridor with no ceiling or floor; instead, a brilliant white light emanates from both.

The reflection of mirrors creates a most distorting effect, the illusion of incredible space within the narrow hallway. After a few moments, Pinocchio pops around a corner, his dark clothing contrasting heavily with the white light and mirrors. Because of the reflective properties of the walls, we see literally dozens of images of the soldier.

Gun drawn, Pinocchio cautiously makes his way down the hallway, occasionally glancing back over his shoulder.

PINOCCHIO

(whispered yell)

Hobbes??

He receives no reply.

PINOCCHIO

(whispered yell)

Florence...

Again, no answer.

PINOCCHIO

Damnit...

Finger on the trigger of his MP5K, Pinocchio takes careful steps down the hallway.

Ahead, he finds a hallway splitting off to the left, and he takes it. Immediately around the corner, though, he hears some noise that catches his attention. He backs around the corner into the previous hall, looking for the disturbance and finding a flutter of cloth at the end of the hall.

It's gone as soon as he see it, and he starts after it.

PINOCCHIO

Who's in here??

He receives no answer as he dashes down the hallway to the end, rounding the corner smoothly and stopping dead in his tracks. A few yards ahead of him, in a dead end that splits into a T-junction, a young boy of no more than 11 years old is standing still, staring him in the face.

PINOCCHIO

(confused)

Who are you?

(no answer)

How'd you get here??

Pinocchio starts toward the boy, who quickly turns to his right and takes off down the hallway, leaving a digital afterimage trail behind, like a ghost image on a VCR.

Pinocchio shakes his head at the sight, bolting after the boy. He rounds the corner with the boy a few yards ahead, remembering that he's carrying a vicious-looking weapon.

Pinocchio slows his pursuit, calling out instead.

PINOCCHIO

Hey kid, I'm not gonna hurt you!

Pinocchio drops the weapon to his side, taking his finger off the trigger as the boy slows down and turns around. Pinocchio slows down considerably, taking smaller steps.

PINOCCHIO

How'd you get in this place?

ALAN

Same as you.

PINOCCHIO

What's your name, kid?

ALAN

Alan.

There is a hint of recognition in Pinocchio's expression, before the boy speaks again.

ALAN

(matter-of-factly)

After your father.

The recognition is instantly replaced with utter shock.

PINOCCHIO

What'd you say?

ALAN

You were gonna name me after your

father.

Pinocchio stares at the kid, horror taking the place of shock as a realization slowly mixes with memories.

PINOCCHIO

No...how do you know about...

ALAN

She lied to you.

PINOCCHIO

(beat, terrified)

She told me she miscarried. Her

doctor backed her up.

ALAN

You didn't actually believe her...

did you?

Pinocchio is still staring at Alan, slowly shaking his head "no" as if it will somehow convince him this isn't real.

ALAN

We both know that woman can be thrown

farther than she can be trusted.

The shock and horror in Pinocchio's face is slowly wearing away, now to be replaced by suspicious.

PINOCCHIO

(raising his gun)

Who are you?

Alan doesn't flinch at the sight of the weapon, only cocks his head curiously. Pinocchio advances on him, grabbing for his arm. Immediately on contact, though, he DIGITIZES.

Angry confusion burning across his face, Pinocchio stares at the empty spot the boy previously occupied, his own hand still hung in midair. He coughs up an uneasy laugh, and as he is about to drop his hand, he notices something amiss.

TIGHT on Pinocchio's right hand. On his ring finger, where none has ever been, resides a GOLD WEDDING BAND. Pinocchio flips his hand over to look at his palm.

BACK TO PINOCCHIO, his confusion deepening. In a frantic rush, he pulls the band off, tossing it down the hallway. It ricochets off the glass with a musical clinking.

INGA FOSSA (vo)

(whisper)

...Michael...

Pinocchio wheels around to find the source of the voice, but once again, he finds none.

INGA FOSSA (vo)

(whisper)

...I'm here, Michael...

Pinocchio looks at his hand again.

TIGHT on his ring finger. The band is back on his finger.

He pulls the ring off again, struggling this time in his eternal frustration. He hurtles the ring down the length of the corridor, listening to it clink down the walkway.

Heaving, he turns to look at the mirror to his right, staring his reflection in the eyes.

INGA FOSSA (vo)

(whisper)

...I'm always here, Michael...

PINOCCHIO

No you're not...

INGA FOSSA (vo)

...yes, Michael...

Tension in Pinocchio's eyes. He stares at his own face.

PINOCCHIO

Not here, not in my head...

INGA FOSSA (vo)

...I'm always with you...

PINOCCHIO

You're...not...HERE!

INGA FOSSA (vo)

...You won't let me go...

PINOCCHIO

I wouldn't keep you around!

A pause. Pinocchio looks like he might have won.

And then hears it.

INGA FOSSA (vo)

...I love you, Michael...

Pinocchio's face twists with rage.

PINOCCHIO

You lying murderer!

INGA FOSSA (vo)

...I love you...

PINOCCHIO

Not after what you did!

INGA FOSSA (vo)

...Michael...

Pinocchio jerks the barrel of his MP5K to his own temple.

PINOCCHIO

GET THE HELL OUTTA MY BRAIN!!

TIGHT on Pinocchio's trigger finger, twitching slightly.

INGA FOSSA (vo)

...Mi...

Pinocchio pulls the trigger, a deafening thunder erupting.

Pinocchio's digital image shimmers for a moment, flickering lightly before restoring itself to normal.

He stares his reflection in the face, slowly dropping his trembling hand and letting the barrel of the weapon graze the floor without dropping it. He leans forward into the mirror, his eyes dropped to the floor as he places his hand against the glass, closing to within inches.

PINOCCHIO

Whole lotta good that did...

He sighs heavily, realizing that everything he encountered -- Alan, Inga, and the wedding band -- were all constructs of his own mind, used by the game to break him.

TIGHT on Pinocchio's face, his eyes still floor-bound as he leans back from the mirror. He takes a moment, but he finally looks up. When he does, though, his face goes ghost white, pure terror in his eyes at what he sees.

TIGHT on Pinocchio's reflection. Not the normal reflection we'd expect to see, but his Real-World-reflection; half of his face disfigured from the blast in Yugoslavia.

BACK to Pinocchio with such horror in his eyes that what he does next could be considered the only logical solution.

He lunges at the mirror with a spine-chilling shriek, spearing the butt of his gun at the glass. The first impact sends a vicious crack streaking down the pane, but Pinocchio refuses to let up, impaling the reflective panel with half a dozen more full-force blows.

Finally, one last crushing impact sends a spiderweb of tears through the mirror. Pinocchio instinctively backs away from the glass as it erupts, spraying into the hall.

Turned away from the mirror on his knees with his face in his arm for cover from the flying glass, Pinocchio only now peeks out from behind his sleeve to examine his handiwork.

PINOCCHIO's POV: he looks at where a broken mirror should stand. Instead he finds an uncracked full-length mirror.

He drops his arm, confusion written on his face. He stands and steps toward the mirror, examining his reflection.

TIGHT on Pinocchio's reflection, which now bares the same unscathed face as the man looking at it.

BACK TO PINOCCHIO, as he quickly reaches his fingers to his cheek, touching the skin on the left half of his face to ensure that he is in fact seeing what he believes he's seeing. He pulls down lightly on his cheek to open his eye further, looking deeper into the image before him.

He runs his fingers through his hair as if to convince himself that he is still real. As he looks into the mirror, a quick laugh spreads his mouth into a wide smile, but is instantly gone again as confusion returns.

He narrows his eyes as his stare intensifies and his hand finds its way toward the mirror. On contact, the glass surface undulates lightly as if it were a liquid shield as Pinocchio's hand eases through it with an electronic hum.

CLOSE on Pinocchio's face, a subtle grin working his lips. He pulls his hand back through the glitch, reaching into his vest pocket and removing its contents; THE DIGIWAND he lifted from the guard before entering this nightmare.

He looks at the device for a moment, his mouth twisting further into what might be the first real smile we've ever seen from this man. He flips the device over, examining its apparently seamless shell, looking at the bottom.

He holds the device close to his face, running his thumb lightly over the black acrylic steel. There is a moment of hesitation before he presses his thumb more firmly to the particular spot, watching as it slowly depresses into the device. When he can't press it any further, he lifts, peeling the back panel off to reveal its inner components.

He looks through the hundreds of chips, switches and wires, prodding carefully through the device. He slowly removes wires from their plugs and replacing them in others, flip-ping switches and popping chips out of place to move them.

After a few moments, he is satisfied that the device has been properly modified and snaps the panel on. He presses the activation switch, turning on the device. He smiles proudly to himself before reaching for the glitch again.

He places the prods to the surface of the mirror, watching as the ripples undulate outward from the point of contact. He hesitates just a moment before discharging the device.

The digiwand gleams, sending a surge of energy through the

mirror-bound glitch. The surface flashes blue, then fades slowly back to normal after Pinocchio releases the button.

Pinocchio replaces the digiwand in his vest pocket as he steps toward the glitch, disappearing through the mirror.

INT. HEDGEMAZE CORRIDOR

Hobbes is lying on the dirt floor of the hallway, staring at the shrubbery ceiling blankly as Florence leans back against one of the hedges. They've been here for a while.

HOBBES

(without sitting up)

I can't wait to get home, throw on

some old Lonesome Dove reruns, and

get drunk like Bailey Salinger.

(looks to Florence)

You have no idea what I'm talking

about, do you?

Florence shrugs to imply that she has a vague notion. Hobbes finally sits up, propping himself up on his elbow.

HOBBES

You've always been here, right?

(Florence nods)

What'd you do before the game? I

mean, before the bomb.

Florence nods again, leaning toward Hobbes and reaching her index finger toward the dirt. In quick strokes, she writes three letters; VET. Hobbes flicks his eyes back to hers.

HOBBES

You were in the military?

A smile nearly takes Florence's lips as she leans back down adding letters. After a moment, Hobbes looks back down at the ground to find a new word; VETERINARIAN.

Hobbes laughs at himself when he realizes his error, laying back in the dirt with his hands to his forehead.

HOBBES

I've been stuck here WAY too long.

EXT. BLACKNESS - UNPROGRAMMED GAME SPACE

In total darkness, we find one lone figure. Its identity is obscured by the surrounding void, but after a moment we track in on the face and find Pinocchio, his attention secured by the small screen on the modified digiwand.

PINOCCHIO'S POV: he concentrates on the streaming series of green 1's and 0's flashing across the screen. The device has apparently been altered to read game code.

He heads through the darkness of unprogrammed game space, watching the display closely. After a few more steps, the display shifts, showing a binary series in light blue. In a flash, though, it is gone again.

Pinocchio backsteps quickly to his former location, finding the series again. He checks the display screen, finding a string of blue 1's and 0's, indicating a virtual character, along with a lone blue numeral 1.

Pinocchio reaches the digiwand out at arms length again, activating it. A dull hum ricochets through the emptiness as he swipes the device and disappears from the darkness.

INT. HEDGEMAZE CORRIDOR

Florence and Hobbes sit on the floor, having succumbed to the lure of boredom long ago. Hobbes is fidgeting with his hair at the moment, looking like a bored toddler. Dexter is sniffing around his owner, looking almost as bored.

Both individuals are shocked to their feet, weapons drawn, as the hedge that Florence is leaning on suddenly twitches, fazing as a glitch opens. They quickly avert their guns, though, when Pinocchio steps through, leaving one foot on the other side to keep the portal open.

Pinocchio looks at the two soldiers, both weary with fear in their eyes, before cracking a wry grin.

PINOCCHIO

Coming, kids?

In an instant, Hobbes and Florence are on their feet and following Pinocchio through the glitch, disappearing.

EXT. FOREST (DAWN)

The group's camp, just as they left it except that the fire has long since gone out. There is stillness for a moment until the same glitch that began this nightmare opens up again, allowing Pinocchio, Hobbes and Florence through.

Pinocchio heads across the camp to the crates, but is caught by Hobbes and turns to face the man.

HOBBES

Seal it.

Pinocchio glances down at the digiwand, nodding. He crosses back to the glitch, reaching the device out to contact the surface. He snaps the button, sending a slight electronic twitch through the space that once lead to the Labyrinth.

He retracts his arm, looking back to Hobbes as he swings his left hand through the space to prove that the glitch is no longer there. Hobbes nods as he heads for the crates with Florence, followed slowly by Pinocchio, who gives one last look to the space where the glitch used to be.

The trio packs up camp, heading off in the direction they had formerly been going to get back to the Chevelle.

INT. MILITARY INFIRMARY

In the sterile confines of a large room, very similar to the Harsh Realm Players Bay in the Real World, we find a row of soldiers lain out on stretchers, visors covering their eyes and wires connected to their temples.

3 HOURS LATER

CLOSE on one of the soldiers, as the top portion of the computer screen next to him shows a brainwave pattern of smooth undulating waves. Delta waves, unlike the sharply erratic waves of an Alpha pattern.

After a moment, a technician steps to the computer, tapping at the keyboard until the screen displays a percentage bar in the empty lower half, which descends from 100 to zero.

DOWNWARD SHOT on the soldier as the wire is removed from his temple and the visor slid off of his face to reveal his identity; it is Chris. His eyes slide heavily open.

The technician steps back to allow Santiago through to Chris, followed by two uniformed officers.

SANTIAGO

Welcome back, soldier.

Chris looks at Santiago with only vague recognition, until his mind suddenly clicks and he remembers who the man is.

CHRIS

I failed, General. I couldn't beat it.

SANTIAGO

That was the point, soldier.

CHRIS

(confused)

But...I broke, sir.

SANTIAGO

Of course you did. I might be more

Concerned if you didn't.

Still not understanding, Chris tries to form a response, but can only force out one word.

CHRIS

Sir?

SANTIAGO

Rest up, soldier. Your training is

complete. You ship out tomorrow for

Charlotte at oh-six-hundred.

Chris stares at the General, nodding after a few moments. Santiago grins wryly back at him, turning curtly and heading out of the room with his officers in tow. As he exits, we see Chris watching him leave.

FADE TO BLACK

THE END


End file.
